


It was just down to us being brilliant, really

by nutellabythespoon



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M, before love gods, stuck in a car au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-04 03:09:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2907068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nutellabythespoon/pseuds/nutellabythespoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bea and Ben (for some incredibly vague reason) are forced to drive a 28 trip together before love gods. Originally inspired by the "passenger has to talk to keep driver awake and says things they wouldn't have said if they weren't half asleep" trope thing. In two chapters, each one for one half of the car ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hours 1-14

Neither of them thought that their friends were being serious. Surely, they must be kidding.  

 

"I don't see how this can  _possibly_ be the only option. Really?" Bea wasn't going to let herself be stuck in a car with Benedick Hobbesfor  _twenty-eight fucking hours._ She couldn't fully process the idea yet, but she was sure that as it sunk in, she would deny the reality even more.  

 

Sure enough though, after five minutes of kerfufling and last minute packing, the unlikely duo stood outside Ben's car with equally displeased expressions.  

 

"We're actually, really, for actual real life, going to be driving over a day together. And there is absolutely nothing we can do. Wonderful." He got in the car, slammed the door and glared at Beatrice as she got in the other side.  

 

After they had exchanged the inevitable "I'm just as happy about the situation as you are"s, and each convinced themselves that that was polite enough, the car fell silent.  Beatrice knew she was going to have to exercise some self-control, as mouthing every casual insult that came to her mind would result in never ending yelling that she did not want to deal with. It was hard, though.  She took out a notebook and started writing down all the mean things she  _would_ say, had the circumstance allowed it. She was actually quite proud of the list, especially the puns about how ugly his car was, and started day dreaming about yelling them to his face once they arrived.  _But oh, oh god.  We're going to have to drive back as well. Nope. Nada._ She realized happily, though, that she wouldn't have to worry, because they weren't on any time crunch get back. She could drive with Hero and just stop for the night.  _Oh, thank the fucking universe._  

 

Ben wasn't doing much better either.  _Well, fuck her. Whatever. Focus on driving. She's not even sitting there. No one is sitting there. Sloths are sitting there._  

 

It wasn’t working.  

 

He was actually pretty amazed that she hadn't opened her mouth yet. He knew it didn't mean anything though. She could start the tirade at any moment, and he wouldn't be the least bit surprised. He  _had_  seen deep into her heart, and he knew he was right. She felt nothing.  

 

~~Hours 1-3~~

 

Their nutrition supply was the only subject discussed for the first few hours. They didn't  _dare_ touch the radio, even if they did just really want to be listening to the same music. "Seems Hero has a made a sort of four course meal or something? I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It just looks confusing. There are instructions? For ways to avoid hunger and snack properly? Fuck it, this seems too complicated.  We'll figure it out when we're hungry." 

 

… 

 

"I think I may be hungry."   

" _Do not_ start with me. Are you absolutely fucking sure?" 

 

"No." 

 

… 

 

"These health bars look gross. " 

 

… 

 

"Can't you just hand me some food. Please." 

 

… 

 

"I read the instructions and it seems to be this whole  _fad_  thing, Thinks it's much better than it is, but it's just idiotic and useless."  _Just like you._  

 

"Fucking Christ, can we just drive-through then?" 

 

"You've got two minutes." Ben guessed it was better than nothing. Not the worst outcome at all, actually. 

 

~~Hour 4~~

 

Ben had bought a bunch of food that won't start to get gross after a day - _he wasn't a total idiot, thank goodness. Claudio would have probably bought a bunch of burgers and upon realizing way too late that they wouldn't last them the whole drive, would have scarfed them down and then felt sick-_ and she was categorizing all of it into different piles. Hero had made it very clear that they weren't allowed to take stops longer than a few minutes, and even those sparingly. No meals. (also, no beds, but they were going to cross that bridge when they got there). She took the salvageable stuff out of Hero's bag and mixed it with the drive-through candy.  

 

"Ok, breakfast is ready. You don't need to be too weary of the rationing. We can always stop again if we need it." 

 

"ummmmm." 

 

"What?" She didn't think she'd ever sounded more cold and accusatory in her life.  

 

"I may have just spent all the money I brought." 

 

"Are you.  Fucking telling me. That you spent. All of our food money. On fucking Mnm's. Fuck you." She refrained from punching him in the face because there were a bunch of cars on the highway and, like before, safety. But, oh, she was very upset that she couldn’t.  

 

"Don't you have money on you?" 

 

"Ya, sure, if you feel like  _pushing this car across the country._ I only brought on me what I factored in for gas because you fucking told me you fucking brought fucking food money and extra money and. Just. Fuck you Benedick Hobbes."  She scooped up half the food, or useless excessive amount of candy, and climbed over to the back row. "Fuck you."  

 

As she read in the back seat, she kept muttering things to herself that sounded like "asshole" and "jerkwad." Ben genuinely didn't understand why she was so angry. Like, obviously he fucked up, but the girl was getting herself worked up over candy.  _Honestly. Beatrice Duke will always find something to be angry about. Doesn't matter what. Imagine explaining that someone got so mad because there was too much candy. Who does she think she is?_  

 

 

 ~~Hours 5-7~~ 

 

The plan was that they were going to switch every seven hours. They each get two quarters. Fair enough.  So for the next three hours, she didn’t make any signs to acknowledge he existed. He stopped once claiming to need to pee, but she knew it was just a lie so he could call Claudio and complain about her.  _Jerk._ And as if anything could get worse, she was reading this book that they had to read for English, as hard as she tried to be interested, the book was decidedly un-captivating. It was the only entertainment she had, for what was still a day's length of silence and no sleep.  _Lucky I don't have to pee. I'd probably accidentally murder the person waiting in front of me if they didn't notice the open stall after a second and a half._ She continued to write in the notebook of Hatred of the Dickhead, and just as she started a sketching a comic about the strange checkout guy she and Hero had had the day before, the time was up. 

 

Ben pulled over, scooched to the passenger seat, took a deep breath, and made the announcement. "Earth to Beatrice. It's been seven hours. I'm very sorry. Please come up to drive. Did I mention I was sorry. I don't want to get ticketed by cops for stopping on the highway, truly sorry I'll work- oh phew, ok let's drive." She had gotten out of the car and into the driver's seat. He was pretty sure she just blocked out everything he said.  

 

He hated her. He really did. But there was no way he was going a whole more day like this. He'd go crazy.  He had used his two minute bathroom break to call him mom to talk about  _whatever,_ honestly. (He would have done it in the car but no doubt the devil herself would have told him to shut it.) He was finding this not talking for many hours at a time thing very difficult.    

 

~~Hours 8-10~~ 

 

He was right. He really  _was_ starting to go crazy. He tried many attempts at conversation while she drove, but she just ignored him.  

 

"Have you started that chem project yet? 

 

… 

 

"Do you need anything? To eat maybe? 

 

… 

 

"The driving's ok, yeah? No problems? Tired?"  

 

She didn't answer of course, but he had struck a new nerve. They'd woken up so early in the morning, so even though it was only just after noon, she was definitely not at full energy. All the silent seething had been wearing her out, as well. It was exhausting, quite frankly. She focused on the road and tried to keep her thoughts on other things. Not Ben. Not his unbelievable assholery. And definitely not sleep.  There was still so much longer to go, she couldn't afford to be tired this early on. 

 

… 

 

"SHEEP!" That was it. The final straw. Now he was just randomly blurting out words _, specifically_ to bother her.  

 

"If you don't close your goddammed mouth, dickface, I swear on every sheep here that it will not end well for you." 

 

"It's a competition." He made a defensive, smiley face and gestured to all the fields outside. "Who can get the most sheep. Or, each separate farms counts as one. Not each separate sheep. Obviously."  She glared at him for a second and then scowled. 

 

…  

 

"SHEEP!" Beatrice cursed her empty threats and tried a new strategy. The total zoning out. She wasn't in a car. She was in space. She was in a meadow. She couldn't hear anything except white noise. She was in her bed, she- 

 

"Watch it would you, Jesus! You're going to kill us. I knew I was the better driver. Earth to Beatrice!!" OK, so, well, maybe the zoning out thing wasn't such a great idea.   _Accept the reality. That's all you have left to do. Just focus and try not to kill anyone. This is your reality now. Ignoring it obviously hasn't done any good._  

 

… 

 

"Sheep."  Ben dropped the bag of candy and it spilled all over the floor. What was that?! She had suddenly agreed to play the game?! He had always played it with his mum in the car, and it could actually get pretty intense. He knew it was something Bea would enjoy. Had she really just agreed??!!  _Maybe her anger is cooling off. That would be a blessing for both of us._  

 

"Bea, 1, Ben, 7." He raised his eyebrows at her, making sure she really did want to play. She just turned back to the road, but didn't argue.  

 

She was not really sure what had brought her to agree to play his idiotic "game." She didn't want to think she had given in to his nagging. It was probably that she couldn't stand to see him beat her, even if she wasn't technically playing. She knew she would win if she tried, so the score sat at 1-7, and slowly the gap bridged.  

 

~~Hours 11-14~~

 

By the time she had overtaken him (22-21) she was both very hungry and very tired. She let herself relax from searching for sheep to focus on eating the granola bars and candy.  It wasn't too difficult to eat while driving, but the lack of actual food kept reminding her of her anger at Benedick.   

 

When it was halfway through the driving break, Ben realized that maybe he could rest his eyes for a bit. It didn’t seem like Beatrice was paying too much attention to the sheep anymore, and he knew he needed all the sleep he could get; he was going to be driving through the evening and night.  

 

They went on like that, him half asleep, her driving and munching, and the occasional sheep, until they received a call from the car that wasn't a literal hell-hole. Hero was all frantic because she realized that some of the food she had packed for Ben's car ended up in Claudio's car. She wasn't just how it happened, she was  _just really, really, sorry_ , and  _hoped that they were ok because she felt bad about the situation but also the other situation_ and Claudio added that  _he was surprised one of them wasn't in many pieces at the side of the road._  

 

Maybe Bea was lightening up, or maybe she was actually making progress on the whole "accept the situation and move on thing," ( _the two options are different,_  she told herself.  _One involves not being as angry at Ben because he doesn't deserve it, the other is because I can't afford it_ ) but she found herself making a good-humoured joke.  "Seems like the universe just doesn't want to me to eat  _food_ today."  

 

Ben couldn’t agree more _. Yeah, maybe I'm not a horrible person you think I am, maybe I'm just a puppet in karma's plan to get back at you for being the most judgmental, outspoken, unbearable incarnate of the devil himself._ He almost considered telling her this, as he wanted to get the first part of the point across, and eventually decided on a very carefully worded sentence.   

 

"Maybe just imagine it like that, like, you know, the universe, for some reason, we don't know what reason, right, no reason in particular, doesn't want you to have food today, and so it wasn't my fault, for what happened before, but instead, it was fated to be, and, therefore, you can't really be angry." Ok, so, maybe not carefully worded. He'd have to work on that.  

 

As he braced himself for the response, the most wonderfully surprising thing that he could ever imagine happening happened. She chuckled. A little tiny one, nothing too friendly or positive, of course, but it was a huge step up from a scowl.  

 

… 

 

"Bea 34, Ben 27." 

 

"I guess you're right. Or at least we'll have to pretend that you are, which should make you very happy." 

 

"huh?" 

 

"About the universe and fault and stuff. Better for my health if you're right." She didn't sound too happy about it, but he knew the fact that she had taken so long to respond meant that she must have  _really_ thought it over (which was something Beatrice Duke almost never does) and really meant it.  _What sudden new world is this, where Beatrice thinks before she speaks? Crazy._ Then, almost like an afterthought, she continued.  

 

"Well, it's actually probably worse for my health if I have deities and the whole universe against me. That is very worrying."  _Was that a joke? Am I supposed to respond?_  

 

_If there is one thing in this world I don't think I'll ever understand, it's Beatrice Duke._  

 


	2. Hours 15-21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I changed it to three chapters because the second 'half' got very long. Some confessions take place.

****

_~~_ Hours 15-16~~

 

When the score for sheep had gotten so high that they just stopped counting, it was time for Ben to drive again. It was the evening and they could feel that it was going to get dark soon.  Ben got out the passenger's side and walked around the car, and Bea switched chairs. She couldn't believe she had made it this far without going insane.  _Maybe I already went insane a few hours back, and this is just what's left of me. I wouldn't be surprised._ Ben was thinking the a similar thing.

 

"So we made it halfway."  

 

"If you start singing Bon Jovi, Benedick, I swear."  

 

"You swear what? You keep not ending your sentences. Empty threats, maybe?" Ben smirked, pressed the gas, and the car sprang forward.  Beatrice scoffed at the accusation.  

 

"Are you implying that I won't slap you into tomorrow, or hurt your petty little emotions so badly you'll do some stupid shit like drunkenly write in a diary? Because you know I will. I don't let assholes off the hook, and you, Benedick Hobbes, are absolutely no exception."  

 

"Alrighty then." Ben meant to make it sound like he had the final word, but clearly he didn't, and the fact that he let out a large yawn right afterwards did not help his case.  

 

"Oh, what, you tired already? Poor, poor dickface is falling asleep and it's only 7:30.”

 

Ben reacted with his usual see-through denial, one that makes everyone wonder what the point even _was_ if he was so terrible at it. “Pft, no, not tired at all.” He repositioned himself in the seat and continued in his sing-song voice. “I am not tired at all. I have the energy, of a lion!” Beatrice couldn’t hold in her laugh; it was like he just made it too easy for her on purpose.  


“Interesting choice of animal, you really do have the energy of a lion. Lions spend 20 hours of the day sleeping to have that energy for like, fours hours, so, you’ve accidentally proven my point. Idiot.”

 

Ben scoffed. How did she manage to really get at his nerves in a way that no one else could? “Pft well, whatever, I’m not tired and I am driving excellently, that is the beginning and end of it.”

 

…

 

“Beatrice?”

 

“What?”

 

“Can you do me a favour?”

 

She looked wholly uninterested. “It depends.”

 

“On what you get in return?”

 

“Actually I was going to say on what the favour was, but I like yours more.”

 

“Beatrice.”

 

 _Oh god, I need to survive this car ride without an aneurism. Just. Be. Civil._ “Ya, fine, what is it?”

 

“I’m, not tired, that’s definitely not the right word, just a _little_ sleepy-”

 

“Literally fuck you. Didn’t I say that? I’m always right, and you’re always both wrong and an idiot. You would think they are the same thing, but, they have slight nuanced differences that don’t really matter for you at because you are both.”

 

Benedick just ignored her. “I always see in movies and stuff, to keep the driver awake and not face death via car crash via sleeping driver, the passenger asks questions and makes active conversation to keep the driver awake.”

 

“So you’re just asking me to talk.”

 

“In essence.”

 

“It’s funny, ‘cause with most people that would not be an issue, but talking to you is like continually poking myself in the eye.”

 

“So you’ll ask me questions and keep me awake and stuff.”

 

“I guess I’m kind of obligated.”

 

…

 

“No, exactly! I totally agree with you, it’s like, so dumb when people just ignore that whole subplot! And don’t get me started on the villain arc.”

 

They were in the middle of their longest non-malicious conversation in years. They didn’t notice this, or they would have been very embarrassed.

 

It was all due to Beatrice’s question.  She needed a question that Ben would have a really long answer for, where he wouldn’t be able to shut up. (Literally her version of hell, as if the car ride on its own wasn’t enough.) It wasn’t too hard for her to think of something he would like to talk about- Doctor Who- and only slightly more difficult to come up with a question that required a long, multi-pointed answer.

 

“Ben, here is my question to keep you awake. Why, exactly, is Ten you favourite Doctor?”

 

They don’t exactly know how they had gotten where they were. They weren’t even talking about Doctor Who anymore.  Somewhere at the beginning of the conversation, they had mastered disagreeing without being malicious. If they were to look back and reflect, they (as well as anyone) would be surprised that it happened so quickly. It was almost as if once they accepted it, that they didn’t want to spend the whole car ride fuming, their brains slipped without a glitch into muscle memory from four years before.

 

~~Hours 17-19~~

 

Out of the blue, instead of a response to “Ok, serious opinion on Frozen time,” Ben decided to risk all separation from reality that would be lost for a subject change.

 

“Shit. I’m really fucking tired. It’s only 9? Shit.” The yawn that followed was embarrassing.

 

Beatrice was about to respond, it had something to do with the logistics of her sleeping right then so she would have some energy for her shift which was _actually_ through the night. But, before she could, the negative risk of Ben’s subject change hit her square in the face.

 

“Did that really just happen?” At first she was addressing Ben, but then turned to face herself in the window beside her, and it seemed like she was talking to herself. “What. What the fuck.” She pointed to herself in the mirror. Ben was slightly concerned. “Did you see that? That really just happened. Over an hour. An hour.  Was that another reality?” She gasped. “Was I captured by aliens and mindswapped?” She turned back to Ben. “Listen, Dick, I don’t know what went on just then, but I’m kind of worried. I think this car ride is turning me into something Hero would be proud of. I’m losing my edge. I’m losing myself!”

 

“Beatrice you’re clearly just overtired. You’re fine. Please stop talking to yourself. You’re still annoying-as-fuck you. Nothing to worry about.”

 

They then had a synchronized yawn.

 

“Wow we are fucked.” She was reminded of what she was going to say.

 

“I think I should sleep now so I have some energy for when I actually have to drive.”

 

“Right, uh, I guess that makes sense.”

 

“Great. Goodnight, dickface.”

 

Ben could not be more confused if he tried. _Was that affectionate? That sounded affectionate._ Also, there was that nagging thought at the back of his mind. _How am I going to stay awake now if she sleeps?_ And, the more betraying thought, the one that haunted him enough to keep shocking him away from sleep. _I really liked that conversation. I really liked talking to Bea. I want her to wake up so we can continue it an- SHUT UP BRAIN._

 

His internal duel went on for too long. He tried to remember exactly what made him hate Beatrice Duke so much. He knew she suddenly became mean, and just got more and more mean as the years went on. He bit is lips, wracking his whole brain for a reason on why she got so mean. He was stumped and confused and after a while, the shock wore off and he found himself jerked awake by the little stubby thing at the side of the road (he could never, for the life of him, remember what they were called.) _Fuck, I think I woke Beatrice._

 

But she only stirred a bit and fell back asleep.

 

_Also, fuck. This staying awake thing clearly isn’t working._

 

~~Hours 20-21~~ 

 

 All he knew was that he needed to keep talking, he was not talking to himself (he was pretty sure that wouldn’t even work), and Beatrice had gotten a good two hours of sleep. Those were the facts. They were all he needed. Even if waking her wasn’t the best idea.

 

He lightly tapped her shoulder. She murmured, “shh, no, sleep,” and then dozed right back off. _Weird._

 

He tapped her shoulder again. “Beatrice, keep me awake.”

 

She was clearly half (or three-quarters) asleep, as she replied with a _giggle._ “Hmm keep you awake. What is my life?” And then back to sleep.

 

He repeated. “Seriously, Beatrice, tell me the most shocking thing you can think of.”

 

“I think I don’t hate you at this very moment.”

 

“Tell me something to keep me awake.”

 

Sleepy Beatrice wasn’t the most filtered Beatrice. She would never have said what she followed with if she had been in her right mind.

 

“I cried every night for the last week of summer before year ten because you broke my heart.” More giggling. “What an asshole you are.”

 

Ben slammed the breaks. “What!?” But she was asleep. He couldn’t keep his thoughts contained in his mind, muttering a hundred words a second in utter disbelief.

 

“What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. She _cried_ because I _broke_ her _heart?_   What the fuck.” He thought back to that last week, her insults and looks and all the distancing and he tried to see his fourteen year old self, and what he did to break her heart (!?) and he didn’t get it. He was going to have to go back to the source, as dangerous as it was.

 

He shook her shoulder and repeated the process. “How did I break your heart?”

 

“You didn’t like me back, you were an asshole and you didn’t like me back.” She started muttering sad song lyrics under her breath, and Ben couldn’t help but wonder if those were songs fourteen year Beatrice had as most played on her iPod. “You didn’t like me, you didn’t want a relationship, you, you, ahha Ben, I had such a huge crush on you, humongous.” She emphasized the end with a large hand gesture.

 

 _Man, sleepy Beatrice is fucking weird._ He thought she would fall back asleep again, but she continued.

 

“I spent to much time in year ten crying over you. I was so pathetic. I don’t need to cry over assholes anymore.”

 

 _Wait a second, she’s starting to sound more like her normal self._ And as Beatrice continued her rambled woes, before Ben realized it, she had almost kind of woken herself up sleep-talking. She was more awake than not at least.

 

He wasn’t sure if she remembered everything she had said, and he didn’t think testing it was a good idea. She was saying something about bumps in the road and his terrible driving, and the exit he needed to remember to take. He tried really hard to contain it and act normal, but after the news he had received? No way. And after some very interesting reconstructing of his memory with the new information, he broke.

 

“I had a huge crush on you too.”

 

“What the fuck, Benedick?”

“You said you had a huge crush on me when we were fourteen. I did too.” He said it very nonchalant, as if he was reading off the distance to the exit.

 

Beatrice Duke almost experienced internal combustion.

 

…

 

“I said all of that.”

 

Ben didn’t think she had properly come to terms with it. He was trying to be as sensitive as possible, as to not hit a nerve and then ka-fucking-boom.

 

“Yep, you did. You started going on about it and obviously I was surprised so I asked you to explain more.” 

 

She tried to be as analytical as possible. What, really, was so bad about Benedick knowing? _Everything. Well, no, for serious Bea, breathe and think it through._ There was the whole embarrassment thing, the vulnerability thing, the bullshit lying thing, the I Was Wrong thing- there were a lot of _things_ that were pretty fucking bad.

 

And, on top of that, there was Benedick’s response. _‘I had a huge crush on you too.’_ It sure as fuck didn’t seem like it.

 

He broke the silence. “Listen, Beatrice, I’m sorry for being an asshole and running away from my feelings. I had no _idea._ ”

 

“Well, it’s not OK, if that’s what you think I’m gonna say, because listen mate, it’s not just all rainbows and sunshine now.” She made a heavy sigh. They shared a very similar thought:

 

_Where the fuck do we go from here?_

**Author's Note:**

> I had a whole explanation prologue for how this situation occurs but it was very shitty and it honestly is better to just suspend the disbelief. sorry.


End file.
